WordPress on 60.4% of websites with a CMS… and there are 9 reasons for this

An increasing number of websites go for dynamic design, via a Content Management System. The benefits are evident: once the structure of the CMS is installed, all you need to do is upload the content using web forms, which is child’s play! WordPress has been the most popular CMS for many years, as the figures published by W3Techs show. 39.2% of all websites use a CMS monitored by W3Techs. Among them, 60.4% chose WordPress, that is to say a staggering 23.7% of all the websites in the world.

Techcrunch, Time, Bitly, Alanis Morissette, Groupe Renault and Coca-Cola France… All of them went for WordPress! And there are 9 reasons for this:

One system, a thousand faces

Every website wants to be unique. Thanks to the thousands of free and paying themes, you can choose the layout that best fits your purpose and content. Do you want to pick another theme? All you need to do is switch themes, without serious consequences for your content. If you need some inspiration, you can check out WordPress’s marvellous showcase.

A plugin for each feature

Do you want an archive, a tag cloud, a search bar, and categories for your posts or comments? Everything is possible, and you do not need to code anything. Thanks to the numerous plugins (more than 37,000!), your visitors can find all the features you offer them on your website. If you cannot find what you are looking for in the extensive plugin library, there is always a huge community of WordPress developers who can develop a custom plugin.

Free and open source

The WordPress software is a free PHP script under GNU licence, which means that you can use the software for free. If the standard WordPress installation does not meet your specific requirements, experienced programmers can further develop WordPress’s open source code in order to build in the desired features.

WordPress speaks many languages...

Although English is a universal language, people like to be able to communicate in their own language (French, Dutch, etc.), especially when this language is their lingua franca. Fortunately, WordPress speaks all these languages. Therefore, no system notifications in English will ruin your content. Do you want to serve your customers in multiple languages? That is also possible: you can offer several versions of your blog in multiple languages, like a real polyglot!

...and tolerates contradiction

A website that offers no interaction is just plain dull. Visitors like to be able to respond, to compliment you for a post, contradict you or add some extra information. WordPress contains a very simple built-in comment system. In addition, you can very easily moderate comments yourself. Comments are welcome, slander is not!

Do it together...

One of the most attractive features of WordPress is that different authors can work on a shared project, each under their own name and under general supervision. Creating logins for guest authors is very easy, and you do not need to give them more permissions than they need.

...or by yourself!

If you prefer to start smaller, you can begin with a simple WordPress.com blog. It is free and only requires that you create a login and password. But then, you will of course be limited. For instance, you will not be allowed to put Google AdWords adverts on your blog. On the other hand, you can very easily link the domain that you registered with Combell to this free blog. Those who enter your domain name will then be redirected to this free blog. And if you want to switch to a professional WordPress blog at a later stage, you can import your entire archive with just one click!

WordPress is adapted to users...

The WordPress dashboard is very user-friendly. Moderating comments, posting new articles, managing images, making minor changes to the layout, installing new plugins... All this can be done through the underlying admin panel. You do not need to be a tech geek to understand how to get started. And if you still have a problem, you can always rely on a huge community to answer any questions you might have.

...and also to Google!

Websites created with WordPress are intrinsically SEO-friendly, which makes them easier to find for search engines. In addition, there are many SEO plugins that can help you improve your Search Engine Optimization, so as to make your website even easier to find by Google and Co.

One last thing… With WordPress hosting, you often have a choice between shared or managed hosting. In both cases, WordPress is already installed on the space that you rent from your hosting provider. However, with shared hosting, you need to share the resources (bandwidth, CPU...) with the other users of the server. Also, the possibilities to run specific scripts is often limited. With managed hosting, these resources are managed, which means that you get the guarantee that a certain minimum amount of bandwidth, CPU, etc. is always reserved for you. Are you not sure about what option is best for you? Combell provides both shared hosting and managed hosting. The Combell helpdesk team will be happy to help you make the right choice.